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Soldiers told not to shoot Taliban bomb layers

Yet more political appeasement of Islamists who then, as a result, go on to murder Western soldiers. Words really do fail over the stupidity and treasonous actions of Western politicians and bureaucrats.Link

[Excerpts with emphasis mine]

British soldiers who spot Taliban fighters planting roadside bombs are told not to shoot them because they do not pose an immediate threat, the Ministry of Defence has admitted.

They are instead being ordered to just observe insurgents and record their position to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.

not his job to attack insurgents laying bombs

The controversial policy emerged at an inquest into the death of Sgt Peter Rayner, 34, a soldier from the 2nd Batallion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment who was killed in October last year by an improvised explosive device as he led a patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Wendy Rayner, 40, disclosed that in the days leading up to his death her husband been told that it was not his job to attack insurgents laying bombs. […]

She said: “They are not allowed to fire on these terrorists. If they can see people leaving these IEDs, why can’t they take them out? One officer even told him ‘I am an army Captain and you will do your job’.”

“We have lost too many men out there, they had seen people planting IEDs yet could not open fire or make contact with them. I believe strongly if people had taken on board what he was saying more he might have been here today.”

Under the Geneva Convention and the nationally administered Rules of Engagement the 9,500 British troops in Afghanistan are told they can only attack if there is an immediate threat to life.

[continues]

I imagine if the same Rules of Engagement were in force during the Second World War the outcome might have been quite different. War is not, can not, and should not be proportionate – you fight to win with minimal casualties on your side. As I said above, words fail.